Costa Rica

At the end of July, we met Cam's parents in Costa Rica for 2 weeks.  We rented a car for the two weeks (a big luxury for us budget-backpackers) and drove between a number of areas throughout the country.  It was great to have the freedom to stop whenever we wanted to as the country really did have  such diverse terrain and environments, and it would be impossible (and expensive) to see it all on buses.   Below are some photos from the two weeks we spent in Costa Rica.

Driving to La Fortuna, Guanacaste, we passed through dense rainforest and over beautiful rivers/streams. 

We made it to our first destination, El Castillo, Volcan Arenal.

Cam, Rod and Janelle hanging in one of the many thermal baths at The Springs Resort, Volcan Arenal. 

The resort had about 18 hot springs and thermal pools (and a slide!!), heated and fed by the nearby Volcan Arenal. We spent most of one day wandering the resort and testing all of the different pools, before returning on the second day to have a couple of beers and relax. 

Toucans in the resort's wildlife preserve.

Three-toed sloth!!

Squirrel Monkeys!

Mountain lion. 

On our last morning in El Castillo, while eating breakfast, the volcano decided to clear for us. From here, we moved onto the small surfing town of Tamarindo - unfortunately, we don't have any photos of here as the majority of our time was spent drinking and partying at the bars.

After Tamarindo, we moved onto the southern Nicoya Peninsular and stayed in Montezuma.  On the drive down, we saw plenty of monkeys along the roadside. 

We hiked to the cascades in Montezuma.

After Montezuma, we caught a ferry across the Gulf of Nicoya and drove down to another beautiful beach town, Jaco. On our way, we spotted a bunch of people standing on a bridge so thought they must have been looking at something exciting, so we stopped to have a look.  This river is one of the best places in Costa Rica to view the region's crocodiles. Mum counted at least 40!

Sunset at Jaco Beach.

Loving life in a sarong.

Enjoying dinner on our first night in the Best Western, Jaco Beach.

Upon leaving the Best Western All Inclusive Resort in Jaco, Cam and I were pretty stoked that we had been able to party there for two nights despite having backpacks on our backs.  Needless to say, we didn't fund the two nights... thanks Rod and Janelle!!! (The joys of travelling with family!!)

After being drunken idiots in Jaco at the all-inclusive resort, we all thought we needed some 'culture'.  Upon wandering through San Jose looking at all of the tourist sites, we discovered that the national theatre was having performances that day, so we were lucky enough to watch some Spanish Opera in Costa Rica's finest theatre.  We all were close to falling asleep though... uncultured, clearly.

We had an awesome time with Rod and Janelle celebrating their birthdays, and were so happy that they could come and enjoy this part of the world and some of our backpacking adventures with us (even though we didn't really 'backpack'!). From here, we have headed back into Nicaragua and will update again soon!